For health, cosmetic and economic reasons it frequently becomes desirable or necessary to abrade or smooth skin. Health and cosmetic reasons include, among others, the reduction or smoothing of calluses, growths and irregular skin areas, the removal of dead skin and skin stimulation. Economic reasons include health cost savings and any economic value of cosmetic improvements, and may also include non-health expense reduction and convenience, for example benefits derived from smoothing of women's feet that become rough resulting in less snagged and ruined nylon stockings.
While skin creams may be of some benefit, the inventor has discovered that creams which are available to the general public are not adequate to fully abrade or smooth skin in all cases. Therefore, there is a need for a means for smoothing or abrading skin which is effective and which is available to the general public.
Heretofore, abrading or smoothing has usually involved action by an individual or by a professional acting upon an individual, scraping or paring the skin with a sharp knife or knife-like instrument or abrading the skin with sandpaper, emery cloth, pumice stone or a metal file. The use of any sharp instrument is tedious and dangerous, particularly for the unskilled or less than dextrous, as care must be exercised to avoid cutting too deep and causing injury to underlying tissue. Metal files are not generally acceptable for such use, not being designed for such use, being cumbersome and often being unpleasant to the touch, seeming cold.
The use of sandpaper or emery cloth has been effective, but not as effective as possible because these devices still require dexterity and the ability to reach the area of interest on the body. This may be difficult for those with disabilities or those who cannot easily reach their feet. Sandpaper or emery cloth material is usually wrapped around the ends of the user's fingers or around some other shaped item and then reciprocated or rotated over the area to be abraded or smoothed. Hand holding the material in place during use has been difficult and tiresome. Even if held by a device, sandpaper tends to crack and fray and the abrasive particles may separate from the backing material. Sandpaper and emery cloth must also be replaced frequently because of cracking and fraying and because the abrasive-surface voids become filled with abraded skin fragments. This may also result in an undesirable interruption of the abrading process.
Pumice stone has been more commonly used for such abrading or smoothing. However, such pumice stone becomes smooth, losing abrasive quality with use as the voids in the abrasive surface become filled with abraded skin fragments. This requires periodic brushing or flushing with air or liquid to maintain the abrasive capability of the stone. Further pumice stones are fragile and often break with such use.
In the case of cutting instruments or in the case of individuals who cannot easily reach the area to be treated, a professional must be employed. This may be too expensive for some people who otherwise require the treatment.
In addition, the prior known techniques do not lend themselves well to use by handicapped or older people whose manual dexterity is reduced or impaired.
Still further, it is sometimes difficult to change the abrading portion of those devices known to the inventor. This difficulty adds to the already annoying process.